Premier League referee Mike Dean will be in the middle for Sunday’s Second City derby at St Andrew’s, while James Adcock will take charge of Friday’s clash between west London rivals Brentford and QPR.

Bone of contention: Dean has already split opinion with penalty awards for grappling under the new directives this season (Picture from Sky Sports)

MIKE Dean has been confirmed as the referee for the ‘Second City’ derby between Birmingham City and Aston Villa in the SkyBet Championship this weekend.

The Wirral-based whistler will take control as the two Midlands rivals meet for the first time at St Andrew’s since January 2011 this Sunday lunchtime (KO 12:00 BST, live on Sky Sports).

He will be assisted by Select Group linesmen Simon Long (Devon) and Daniel Cook (Hampshire), with Peter Bankes (Merseyside) on fourth official duties.

The Football League was expected to appoint an experienced official and it will be a first taste of this particular fixture for Dean, who drops down from the Premier League for the first time this term for what could be a combustible affair between two fierce rivals in contrasting form of late.

And Boro were the hosts for his previous Championship outing in May when he sent off Brighton’s Dale Stephens in a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium in a promotion decider on the final day of the league season.

Earlier this month, Dean gave two spotkicks but was criticised for turning down Burnley’s appeals for another one in their 3-1 defeat by Southampton at St Mary’s.

Spotkick: Dean has awarded more penalties (19) since the start of last season than any other Select Group official (Picture from Sky Sports)

Regular: Adcock – one of 18 Select Group 2 officials – will handle his ninth Championship game of the season (Picture from Getty Images)

James Adcock will take charge of Friday night’s televised west London derby between QPR and Brentford at Loftus Road (KO 19:45 BST).

The Select Group 2 referee will be assisted by Adam Matthews, Michael George and fourth official Tim Robinson – who refereed Burton’s 2-0 win over Birmingham last Friday – for his 16th game of the season.

So far this term, he has brandished 41 yellow cards and awarded three penalties but is yet to issue a red card.

Adcock – who only received 10 second-tier matches last term – last encountered Brentford in August, booking two players in their 1-0 defeat at Rotherham.

The Nottinghamshire-based official, who handled the 2011 Conference Play-Off Final, oversaw QPR’s 1-1 draw at Leeds back in April – awarding the visitors an 87th-minute penalty which Tjarron Chery converted.

The 32-year-old, who has ambitions to be a Premier League referee one day, gave up his day job as a PE teacher in the summer to become a full-time referee.

Regarded as a competent official, Adcock began refereeing in 2000 at the age of 16 before progressing through local leagues to join the Conference List in 2009 and the Football League list two years later.

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